The Best Kind of Gift
Author: Year Round Programs
Meeting Les
Today, we got to choose what service project we wanted to do, so I chose to go to the Woldenberg Village elderly home. While there, we played bingo with the residents and talked to them during lunch. One of the residents that I met was named Les.
We talked for a while; I learned really cool things about him. He worked at an Air Force base in Georgia (where I live). He was the first person to see a polar ice cap on Mars through a camera – he has original pictures of it. When Les was younger, he attended a Young Judea camp. He told me that it was only his second time playing bingo, and the only reason he went was because our Young Judea group would be there. I really enjoyed talking and listening to Les; he made my day!!
As we were walking out of the home, a man saw our Young Judea songbooks and started talking to us about how he was part of Young Judea. It was amazing to be able to connect with people of different generations who have done the same things as us.
Sydney Rein – 9th Grade, Roswell, GA
Two Birds with One Stone – Ariel Glueck
The Arc of Lower New Orleans is a multi-pronged organization committed to helping the mentally disabled community. We walked into a stark building not really knowing what to expect from this organization, but we walked into a room piled wall to wall, floor to ceiling with bags of Mardi Gras beads and a woman with 5 strings of beads around her neck and a smile on her face and I knew we would be okay. Debra gave us a tour of the building and explained the way the organization works. They take donations of Mardi Gras beads from New Orleanians and employ mentally disabled adults to sort through the beads so Arc can sell them. Additionally, they run a soup kitchen. This kills three birds with one stone: they recycle Mardi Gras beads, which as she explained, Mardi Gras generally produces 2 millions pounds of, they employ mentally-disabled adults who might not otherwise be able to get employment, and they run a soup kitchen for those who can’t afford meals.
A half an hour later, we were elbow-deep in Mardi Gras beads, learning how to sort them into five categories. Debra taught as all about the different krewes who run Mardi Gras and how to differentiate their beads. We learned about the history of Mardi Gras through the beads, we were elbow deep – actually gloved-hand deep – in Mardi Gras beads which had spend brief periods of time up on puke covered historical streets, and then lived forgotten in someone’s attic until the folks at Arc encouraged them to donate the beads. Debra told us that they say New Orleans is sinking because of all of the Mardi Gras beads in people’s attics. We sorted enough beads to make $1,500 for the organization, which would go to wages for the mentally disabled and the keep the organization running.
The chanichim reflected on the uniqueness of this organization. The other organizations we are volunteering for are wonderful models that can be transplanted on any other community in need: St. Bernard’s Project has offices in North Carolina to help rebuild houses after natural disasters there, Green Light is a wonderful model for any suburban setting, as Recirculating Farms is for an urban setting. The Arc organization is truly a New Orleans organization. They don’t have any great plans for expansion in the future. They are recycling beads and employing the mentally disabled as long as Mardi Gras exists and mentally disabled adults need jobs. A few of the chanichim expressed gratitude for the ability to interact with some of the employees, some of them explained that they had personal connections to the cause and really appreciated how much employment means. We later had a peulat about Maimonides eight rungs of tzdakah and we mentioned that this organization rose to the top of the ladder: past giving happily, past a wonderful charitable interaction, past a double-blind tzdakah exchange. This organization gives employment. They give the opportunity to be self-sufficient. This wonderful organization would not run smoothly without Debra’s patient leadership and easy smile. She was a wonderful woman to have the pleasure of interacting with.
Later that day, all of AWB visited Mardi Gras world to see where all the floats and props for Mardi Gras are produced. During the informative video before the tour, they mentioned the krewes and how they worked and I heard dispersed whispers of the chanichim who were with me. They were proud to have touched hundreds of beads with the names of different krewesfd on them. We already knew how that work. Arc gave the chanichim a certain ownership of this city, a certain admittance to the secret club of those involved with making the magic of Mardi Gras happen.
Ariel Glueck is from Highland Park, NJ, is a student at Hunter College and is a staff member at Sprout Lake. Ariel’s young brother is also on AWB for the first time.
So Much and So Little in Common
I am so glad to be volunteering to help cook and spend the holidays with these individuals that have so little. It’s amazing to see that my little actions make such a big difference to them. One man I spoke to told me all about his life, and I was so moved to find out how much we had in common. Many of the people I talked to were so grateful despite how little they had. Its so wonderful to see these positive people with hope even though they aren’t in the best situations. I also enjoyed asking them and learning about the work they are doing to move forward in their lives.
Today as I celebrated Christmas eve with the people at PATH, I found myself continuing to think about what I came across yesterday at Skid Row. I saw hundreds of people living on the streets without access to basic human needs. It’s crazy to see what so many people go through, and it really makes me think about how fortunate I am. As much as PATH does, there is still so much more that we can do for these people.
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Tamar Yaniv, Miami Florida – 11th Grade
A Novel Experience
Becoming older is such a weird sensation. I’m gaining so many novel experiences and meeting tons of interesting people. These things shape us whether we like it or not.
As I’m going through life, I’ve accumulated so much knowledge and perceptive about the world around me. Participating with PATH exposed me to a new way of communicating and handling people.
Walking along the streets of Skid Row and seeing the collection of tents and homeless communities in downtown LA opened my eyes in a whole different way. I’ve never seen such intense poverty. But for some reason, there was a part of me that was happy for them, for they didn’t live secluded from each other. They were aware of the situation and accepted it – making it their own.
Talking to the residents of PATH and hearing their impeccable stories, I feel extremely humbled. Seeing the poverty in New York City, I have created this assumption about homeless people and was not in tune with their background stories.
Once I really heard their voices and their emotion was unleashed, the connection that was created and the impact that was left, lasts forever. It’s truly been a pleasure to speak with such amazing individuals and take this experience home with me and spread it to others.
~ Oren Yaari – 11th Grade, Huntington, NY
High Expectations
